This week I experienced a “first.” For the first time in my life, I went to church alone. And, being the relatively introverted, shy girl that I tend to be, I was nervous about it. On the drive over I had butterflies in my stomach as if I were headed to a job interview. It’s silly, but true.
My nerves prompted me to wait until the last minute to leave my house. And so I was late.
Walking up to the small white church I could hear the organ music already starting up and I immediately felt a twinge of regret that I’d be interrupting with my late arrival. But as my foot hit the first step leading to the entrance, one of the doors swung open and an elderly lady smiled and personally ushered me in. Late was OK. She handed me a hymnal with a pamphlet marking the page the congregation was currently singing from.
When I entered the sanctuary my entrance was noted. Several heads turned as I rushed my butt into the back pew. The lady in front of me turned and gave me her hymnal, which I stupidly accepted after having placed the one I just received on the pew with my jacket. I was a little flustered.
I counted less than 25 heads, including the organist and the two ladies leading the service. I was clearly new. And very young.
After a couple of hymns, the two women standing behind the podium remained in place. Given my past experience I was waiting for them to step aside for a male preacher. But then one began to read the “explanatory note,” which I found later was printed in the Christian Science Quarterly tucked inside the hymnal I had received twice. I’ll reprint it here:
“This Note, approved by Mary Baker Eddy, is read in Church Services before beginning the Lesson-Sermon.
Friends:
The Bible and the Christian Science textbook are our only preachers. We shall now read Scriptural texts, and their correlative passages from our denominational textbook; these comprise our sermon.
The canonical writings, together with the word of our textbook, corroborating and explaining the Bible texts in their spiritual import and application to all ages, past, present, and future, constitute a sermon undivorced from truth, uncontaminated and unfettered by human hypotheses, and divinely authorized.”
The passages the two proceeded to read were printed on p. 22 of the quarterly. One read from the Bible. The other read from Mary Baker Eddy’s supplemental textbook. This was done in six sections. Offerings and a couple more hymns followed.
A note on Christian Science as I currently understand it:
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| Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) |
Here’s where it gets murky for me.
Christian Science believes that matter does not really exist. We are spirits only and every physical problem is an illusion that can be overcome through direct communication with God. This is why Christian Scientists believe they can be healed without medical help. Any medical problem is merely in the mind. And if the mind can be properly trained it will become clear that those problems aren’t really there.
When it was clear that the service was over I had the mind to grab my jacket and purse and simply speed walk the ten steps to the door with my head down. But that would have been horrible and rude of me. And I really did want to learn more. I was just scared, quite honestly.
Instead of dashing, I very slowly stood up and casually reached back for my jacket. The lady in front of me used that time to turn around and introduce herself to me. I explained that I was new as if it wasn’t obvious and she said she hoped to see me again. I then moved slowly to the area right behind my back pew where the few people of the church were gathering. One of the women who had led the service was the next to approach me. I explained again that I was new. And she agreed that I was, in fact, new, and that she had noticed the new face from the podium.
She asked if I’d like something to read to learn more about Christian Science. I said, “Absolutely,” and was lead to a back room laid out like a small bookstore.
One woman nervously said, “Let’s not overwhelm her.” I assured her that they were not. This was exactly what I had been afraid of all along. But now that it was actually happening, I was not at all taken aback. Of course, I did joke about it later when I got home and dropped my goodies on the kitchen table.
But I believe this is what should be done for a newcomer.
If I were interested in Christian Science I’d be so grateful to have so much to explore and so many welcoming faces to return to.
As it is, however, I don’t think I’ve found the truth and I don’t think I’ll be returning. Everything seems to keep breaking down into two for me with these posts. There are two major problems that prevent me from wanting to explore Christian Science further.
One: Mary Baker Eddy is far too revered. Of course it makes sense that different sects of religion might originate from a human. But the level she is on is disconcerting. Her textbook is read along with the supposed word of GOD. It is called the “Key to the Scriptures” as if God’s word cannot stand alone without her. Who do the Christian Scientists think she is? Their explanatory note claims that their sermon is “uncontaminated and unfettered by human hypotheses” and then HALF the sermon consists of ONE human’s … hypotheses. The contradiction is unbelievable. If I’m going to find truth enough to devote my life to, I’m absolutely certain that that truth is going to come from a perfect source. A God I can accept. Not another confused human.
Two: Matter does exist.
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